


Suffer With A Purpose

by MythicalCypressWater



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abuse, F/M, Hurt!PeterParker, Idk what i'm doing, Like of the other orphans, Orphanage, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Avengers, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Steve Rogers, Protective Tony Stark, Thor is hard to write, help me, i can't tag, just the original avengers, might turn up later, so he probably wont be in here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:55:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22082182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicalCypressWater/pseuds/MythicalCypressWater
Summary: Peter lives in an abusive orphanage and gets an internship with Mr. Tony Stark. He's a cinnamon roll so naturally both Tony and the Avengers fall in love with him. Plot ensues.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 117
Kudos: 520
Collections: Lost and Found Irondad Fics





	1. Fists made of Fire, Fists made of Fury

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, Hello, My Lovelies! Here's another story has that no planned plot that I hope you enjoy.

A very, very, very small part of Peter knew that he didn't have to deal with this shit. Knew that he was strong enough to fight back. Knew that if he really wanted to, he could pack his measly possessions and run the hell away. With his superhuman abilities, Peter could easily steal food, could easily...

But that was a very, incredibly small part of Peter. It was a part of him that he kept gagged and buried because _who the fuck wanted to hear the shit it was talking about?_

Besides, Peter had made it his personal mission to protect the other orphans that resided at Old Oaks Orphanage. He had made it his personal mission to protect the citizens of Queens. 

_Because he couldn't protect his mom or dad and he couldn't protect Uncle Ben or Aunt May-_

Peter could save people now. Last year, he was bitten by a radioactive spider and was enhanced into a superhuman. Now as a 15 year old, Peter swore on every life he couldn't save that he would rescue the ones he could. 

And so the invincible Spiderman was born.

* * *

Peter carefully shut the window of bedroom he shared with three other boys. All were fast asleep, all were basically bruise free. Two of them, Owen and Luke, were fifteen just like him. The other one, Hudson, was a year older. He didn't care what their ages were because he would take their beatings for them no matter what.

Slipping quietly from his homemade suit, Peter settled down onto the ground level matress he was provided. He still had three and a half hours before he had to wake up for school. Even as exhaustion overtook him, Peter still yearned endlessly that he could check on the girls that were harbored in the room just down the hall. Sweet, little Ava who was eight, sassy Quinn who was eleven, and independent, motherly Remi who was 17. 

His body was sore and covered with a myriad of uniquely colored bruises. Though the other children did not know this, Peter's healing factor was part of the reason he was so willing to sacrifice himself for them. Recently, however, he was given the punishment of no food for a week and with his increased metabolism, black spots, dizzy spells, loss of balance etcetera were already appearing as symptoms. 

With no money to buy anything to eat, Peter usually suffered through it. MJ and Ned insisted on feeding him despite not knowing the actual severity of the situation. They just knew he wasn't able to bring lunch and also knew that his metabolized hunger was tearing through him like a camel on steroroids.

Remi, who usually cooked everyone's meals, attempted as often as possible to sneak him food. She disapproved of him "throwing himself to the wolves" everyday but appreciated that he kept everyone, including her, safe.

So maybe they were all doomed to a miserable fucking life under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Moore, but with Peter as their protector, Remi as their mother, Quinn as their comedic relief, Ava as their princess, Owen as their messenger and spy, Luke as their forgiver and peacemaker, and Hudson as their big brother and back up protector, they could survive in the makeshift family fate forced upon them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s short and nothing happens in it but I just wanna get some feedback to see if you guys would be interested in this story


	2. Hell or Heaven? I think some some cruel place in between.

By the time Peter's alarm began beeping gently in stark difference to the silent morning disrupted only by the occasional car, everyone else was already seemingly awake. He groaned, checking his phone to be sure of the time. Yep. 5:30.

Rubbing the tiredness from his eyes, Peter yawned and began to get dressed properly for the day. The soreness from his aching body had yet to allude him. The pain was a heron and he was the fish dashing from the sharpness of it's beak. Only in his case, the bird never missed and the pain was constant and everywhere. _He came home 10 minutes after curfew and gets the shit beaten out of him-_

Trying not to dwell on the unfair misery that is his life, Peter shuffled out the door, praying to anyone or anything that might be listening for Mr. and Mrs. Moore to be asleep. The last thing he needed was for those old, crusty dinosaurs to be stomping around the place. The two middle aged asses were an exact replica of Adolf Hitler. If you stripped the Nazis, perfect race, and art school from them. But totally alike.

Parker Luck appeared to be taking a break that day because the owners of this hell in a fancy building were nowhere to be seen.

"Wow, you all managed to wake up before me." Peter said as way of greeting to the clanking and clunking room. 

Remi was at the stove nudging what appeared to be cheesy eggs. Hudson was drinking orange juice straight from the bottle. Both Ava and Quinn were kneeling on the high chairs at the little bar that was facing into the kitchen while Owen was hunched over the table scribbling over incomplete homework. Luke was fetching paper plates from the pantry for Remi to place the eggs on. Peter felt a little grin crawling onto his face.

"My God, you look horrible." Quinn said, a smile tilting on her lips to reveal she was just messing around. 

"Yeah, well you look like that everyday, so I don't know what you want me to do about it." Peter shot back, watching as Quinn tossed her blond hair over her shoulder in playful jest. 

Ava leaped from her chair and wrapped herself around Peter's legs like an octopus. "Peter!" She squealed.

"Mornin', princess." He greeted more directly this time, draping an arm around her shoulders and tightening firmly.

She raced back to her stool satisfied with the interaction. Remi glanced over her shoulder with a frown tugging on her lips. Brown hair swished as she finished dishing out the eggs evenly onto plates. 

"Hudson, sit down. Owen, put away that homework. You can finish later. Though it should have been done last night." She said, setting plates out before them.

"I was busy!" Owen said indignantly, mouth already full.

"Yeah, busy playing on your phone. Now, close your mouth when you eat."

Peter ignored the rumbling of his stomach and tried not to look so desperately at the breakfast laid out before them. He didn't know where the Moores were and wasn't particularly keen for them to catch him going against their orders. 

He snapped his head up to look at Remi when she placed a plate before him. "Where are Mrs. and Mr. Moore?" He asked, glancing with something akin to nervousness at the stairwell leading to the owners' living quarters. 

"I don't know and I don't care. Now, please eat before you die on us." She basically commanded, voice becoming gentle the farther into her words she got.

Sitting down herself, Remi and the rest of them all began to eat in comfortable silence disturbed only by the small noises of contentment. The older girl, surprisingly, finished first despite Peter's mostly attempted speed eating.

"So," she began, placing her plate in the garbage can. "Why exactly are you painted in those lovely bruises?" Remi's jaw a ticking, a clear sign something was bothering her. 

"The train got held up and I was a few minutes late."

"Peter," Remi started, and the clear sadness in her voice made Peter feel guilty. "I know it wasn't your fault, but please, please try not to break any of their stupid laws. You already take all of our punishments and-" She cut herself off with a sharp intake of air. "And I really, really don't like seeing you hurt." 

Peter could see the unshed tears in her eyes. He knew she felt responsible for all of them and tried to imagine how he would feel if "his" kid was suffering from starvation and beatings as punishment for trivial things. 

But then she straightened and any hint of sadness was swept away. "Right, well, you better be on your way, Petey. Unless you want to be late."

Peter, who was a scholarship student, went to a different school than the other six and his school ,Midtown Tech, was a bit farther away. He nodded and gave her a reassuring smile. "Be safe!" Remi called as he opened the door. 

"Only if _they_ promise to be good!" He called back, directing his attention to Ava and Quinn who were happily munching on their breakfast.

* * *

"Dude, what happened to your face?" Ned asked, concerned. 

Peter hated lying to his best friends, but he knew it was necessary. Making a show of looking around as though to see if anyone was listening in, Peter whispered, "Spiderman." 

"Ohhh." Ned said, face set in realization before collapsing into the amazed look of awe he always adapted when speaking of Peter's extracurricular activities. 

"Dorks." MJ huffed before reading the last of her book's page and swinging her book sack around to set her signature possession in it. "Who managed to hit _you_ that hard?" She asked, making sure to appropriately lower her voice. The halls were bustling with the usual morning traffic before class. 

Peter hesitated for only a moment before responding. He already thought this entire conversation out before coming to school. "It was three guys. I was handling two at once and I didn't really notice the other dude until it was too late."

"What about Spidey-Sense?" Ned questioned curiously.

"Well, considering the situation, I was kinda in a constant state of danger. It was going a little haywire."

Peter nearly sighed in relief when they accepted his explanation. 

"Come along, losers," MJ said dismissively, glancing at her watch. "We should get to class."

Thank God it was Friday.

* * *

Mr. Harrington's science glass was halfway through when the intercom crackled to life.

_"Peter Parker to the principal's office. Peter Parker to the Principal's office."_

Eyes shot to Peter so quickly he was tempted to bite out- "Wow, did you get whiplash? Actually, I'm pretty sure I heard your neck break. Should probably get that checked."

Okay, so maybe he was a little nervous because he had no clue what he did. Were they going to revoke his scholarship? If they did, he wouldn't be able to go to Midtown anymore. He'd never see Ned or MJ again and- _Can it Parker! It'll be fine._

Peter might have dawdled a bit on his way while he shambled down the hallways, but that was his business. 

* * *

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Peter inquired as introduction to Principal Morita. The man shuffled in his chair a bit, but he was smiling so it had to be good. Right?

"Ah, yes, Peter. Please, take a seat." Mr. Morita said, gesturing to the two leather chairs sitting innocently before his dark desk.

Peter eased himself into his seat half wishing he was back in class and half letting his curiosity get the best of him. The bruises on his back and legs protested extremely loudly at the action of sitting in the plastic covered, pristine looking chair. Peter hoped the eggs he had that morning were assisting somewhat in the healing process.

"So," Morita began, smile never faltering which, in Peter's experience, was sometimes a bad thing. "I'm sure you remember the tests we took last week?"

Peter nodded his confirmation. He still had no idea what they were for. 

"Well, those tests were sent to Stark Industries to be analyzed and reviewed. The highest grade earned a personal internship with _Tony Stark_ himself. And, Peter, you received the highest score."

Peter was pretty sure his brain stopped working.

_Personal internship with Tony Stark._

_Tony Stark._

_Iron Man._

_His Hero._

_Genius._

_Billionaire._

_Ex-Playboy._

_Philanthropist._

Yeah. _That_ Tony Stark.

"What?" He said very intelligently.

Mr. Morita smiled knowingly and slid a paper across the desk towards him. "The internship starts on Monday. It's twice a week. The rest of the information can be found on that paper. Congratulations, Peter. We are so proud of you."

Peter stayed around long enough to stutter a _Thank You_. 

Wait until Ned and MJ heard about this. Maybe Parker Luck wasn't all bad.

* * *

Walking into Old Oak's Orphanage with a smile, the only time that has ever happened, Peter thought about how excited everyone would be, especially Luke, when he told them the news. 

No one, however, was in sight. Peter knew that it wasn't rare for Remi, Hudson, Luke, and Owen to still be gone at this time. It wasn't that late, but Ava and Quinn weren't old enough to be running around the streets so they should be here. Maybe they were just in their room.

Peter's heart spiked when he saw Mr. Moore, John, hunched over in the living room's armchair, beer bottle in hand and quite the collection forming on the coffee table in front of him. 

"Parker!" John spat. " Get the hell over here!"

Peter cautiously made his way over to the middle aged man and tried not to show any fear he might have been feeling. A drunk John was never a good thing. Terri (Mrs. Moore) and he probably got in a fight.

"Me an' Ter got inna argument." 

He was right then. Most of Peter, like 95% of him, really wanted to say "What do you want me to do about it?" But he remembered telling Remi he'd be safe so instead, he opted to be quiet.

John lethargically removed his feet from the table, knocking over a few bottles that broke into large pieces when colliding with the floor. The older man grabbed Peter by the collar of the shirt and sneered in his face. "I told 'er, I told 'er that an orphanage was a bad fucking idea. Neva' listens to me..." He grumbled, slamming Peter onto the ground. 

The boy coughed as the wind was knocked out of him and had no time to scramble away before John's foot connected with his side. He squirmed in pain, but the kicks kept coming. Suddenly, John lifted him up to his feet again and opened his mouth to speak. Before he could, however, they were interrupted. 

A loud sob erupted from the girls' room. Ah, so they were all hiding. Smart.

John's eyes flashed as he glared towards the door, looking like he was about to bust it down like a stripper trying to get a few extra bucks. 

Panic squirmed uncomfortably in Peter's chest at the thought of Ava, Quinn, Remi, Luke, Owen, or Hudson getting hurt. So Peter Parker, who might have had Spidey-Sense but definitely not Common Sense, did the only thing he could think of to keep them safe.

"You call that a beating? I barely felt it. Must be older than you look." Peter exclaimed loudly, also glancing at the Girls' door but hoping to capture his attention.

After that, everything went to shit. His plan worked because at least the older man didn't go after the others, but now Peter's face, chest, arms, stomach, sides, and legs were covered in bruises whilst his back bled from being slammed into the broken glass littering the floor.

Eventually, John got bored or something because he stumbled upstairs. Peter kept trying to get up, but he couldn't move. Pain was the only thing that he could feel and that was pulsing and hurtful. He _really_ wanted to get up to go to his room before Terri came home or worse, John came back downstairs.

He stood because he could hear the others shuffling in the girls' room, could hear them trying to figure out if John left and it was safe to go out.

Peter opened the bedroom door and shut it behind him. Judging by everyone's faces, he looked as bad as he felt. 

Everyone was crying except for Owen whose tears remained stubbornly unshed and Hudson who just looked angry. 

Remi covered her mouth as fresh tears became a warm, salty waterfall down her cheeks. 

"That bad, huh?" Peter asked in attempt to lighten the mood. His words seemed to spur everyone into action because suddenly Remi and Luke were going to the bathroom to get towels and a first aid kit and the other four were pushing him gently into a chair. 

His hiss of pain caused Ava to obsessively alternate between muttering "Thank You" and "I'm sorry" while she kneeled beside Peter. 

Suddenly, pain wasn't the only thing he could feel because guilt and warmth that they were okay was also blossoming in his chest and blooming in his stomach.

* * *

By the time night fell, Remi was able to steal him a piece of sausage from dinner, but the measly portion did nothing to appease the rumbling hunger settling in his gut or his low-on-fuel healing factor.

And when everyone else was asleep, Peter might have cried because he didn't have anyone to be strong for anymore. 

Parker Luck. Of course it would give him happiness only to destroy it.

Well better him than his makeshift family.

Always better him.


	3. we'll be okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Hello, my beautiful babies!

Peter woke to the noise of hushed shuffling and mumbled whispering. He groaned at the pounding in his head. It felt like two giants were playing volleyball and his head was the ball. 

Immediately, all sound in the room ceased. The padding of feet along the wooden floor was the only warning he received before a small body hopped onto the bed next to him and little hands rested upon his chest. 

"Peter!" Ava squealed in delight, "Are you okay?" Peter opened his eyes just long enough to see her pouting concernedly and felt the corner of his lip tug upwards.

"Fine, Ava-Bug." 

There was silence until a hesitant voice piped up. 

"You really scared us." Luke said quietly.

"Yeah." Peter agreed gently because he couldn't think of anything else to say. His entire body was aching. He almost wanted to ask if a bus hit him just to see if he could get any laughs. 

"We patched you up the best we could," The teenager continued," But you probably feel it." His was almost apologetic.

"I definitely still feel it. But thanks." Peter responded. They lapsed back into comfortable silence. Peter wanted to ask a million things. Were they all okay? Did Mrs. Moore come back home? Did Mr. Moore go to bed drunk?

"Hey, I may always look horrible, but even I win when compared to you right now. Sorry, Petey." Quinn joked. It wasn't that funny, but they laughed like it was. Quinn- always the joker.

Peter opened his eyes and sat up against the wall, rubbing a thumb over Ava's hand while she adjusted herself on the bed ( the term "bed" was loosely used. They were allowed a mattress-which was on the floor- and a blanket). 

"I thought I told you to be safe." Remi whispered and Peter could see that her eyes were glistening. Guilt welled up in his chest. He knew how much the girl considered herself responsible for them.

"You did. I'm just not good at listening." 

It was only then that Peter noticed the darkly blooming bruise that rested harshly on Owen's cheek. How hadn't he noticed last night?! Did it happen after he the went to sleep?!

"Owen, what happened? Are you okay?" He panicked. 

Owen looked at Peter in wonder, touching a finger to his swollen face. "Seriously? You can barely move and you're asking _me_ if I'm okay?" 

Peter pushed himself upwards more and tried to fight the angry protectiveness that was swelling in his chest like a balloon. His one job was to protect the others and he even failed that. 

" _What happened?"_ He stressed.

Hudson sighed and answered. "Owen was headin' to the kitchen yesterday afternoon to get some water when that old hag was leaving. She slapped him, as you can see. Its how we knew to hide. Rems tried callin' you, but you didn't answer. We wanted to tell you to be careful when you came home."

"Guess I should work on my ninja skills, huh?" Peter grinned. It earned him a few smiles and he heard Ava huff a cute, little noise of laughter.

"This is bullshit!" Remi suddenly exploded. Everyone's wide blown eyes snapped to her. Remi _never_ cursed. She actually made a rule against it because of the young ones and stuck to it passionately. Peter was sure that if they weren't all sad, poor, endangered orphans, they'd have a swear jar.

" We have to worry about- no. We have to worry about _Peter_ getting the shit beat out of him anytime he comes home for _their_ problems! We have to worry that one day they are going to hurt Quinn or Ava and we won't be there to stop them," She crazed, gesturing wildly the older five of them. Tears started streaming down her face," We have to worry that Peter isn't going to open his eyes again one day! We have to hide behind a teenage boy who feels _guilty_ when he _doesn't_ get hurt because of us! We have to worry that Peter is going to die from starvation. He barely gets fed so any food he does have goes straight to trying to help him function normally. Nothing's healing him! What if his body stops working? What if one of you get hurt or punished? I'm going to have to leave when I turn eighteen. What happens then? I can't lose y'all. I can't, I can't-" 

Hudson placed a hand on her shoulder and Peter and Ava leaped from the mattress. The six of them all surrounded her, engulfing her in their arms.

"Nothing's going to happen to us, Rems. We aren't going anywhere." Luke whispered.

"And I'm fine. You take care of me, Remi. I'm not leaving you. I'm not leaving _any_ of you." Peter murmured.

After a few minutes, the teenage girl's sobs quieted and she pulled away from them. "Okay," She said, wiping her face and breathing in and out, " okay. I'll make sure to get food any chance I get. I'll sneak some from meals. I'll-I'll stop at a-a food drive or something. We'll be okay. We're all going to be fine."

Despite the small voice in the back of Peter's head that said they would _never_ be fine, he couldn't help but believe her.

* * *

On Sunday, Peter found himself ushering everyone out the door. Terri and John had went to bed angry and drunk _like usual_ but their fight from Friday was still in full contingency.

True to her word, Remi kept Peter locked up in his room all of Saturday and snuck him food. Hudson went with anyone who left the room, but they mostly all stayed in the boys' room just relaxing that entire day. Peter felt guilty and nearly protested when the 17 year old decided he wouldn't be going anywhere until school started on Monday. He had to patrol. He had to save the people the police couldn't. But then he saw the _fear_ in her eyes. It was full and consuming and Peter agreed.

"Peter, please come with us!" Remi begged him, gripping his hand.

"Yeah, Pete," Quinn started. She was smiling, but Peter saw the unshed tears that filled the eleven year old's eyes," we can have a family bonding day or whatever regular people do."

"Come on, man," Owen agreed quietly, "You don't have to stay here."

"They're going to be furious either way. They need something to get their anger out on. I can't have them hurting you and I'd rather them hurt me without any of you here to give them ideas. I'll be fine." Peter reassured. Peter was going to get the shit beat out of him either way. They all knew how this went. This way, the kids wouldn't be have to hear or be tempted to act on his pain. 

"You're still hurt." Luke pointed out.

"I'm always hurt." Peter joked feebly. No one laughed.

"I have to protect you guys. So please just go before they come downstairs."

"I can stay." Hudson spoke up.

"What?" Peter asked ghastly, head snapping to the slightly older boy.

"If there's two of us, they can't direct all the pain onto just you." 

Peter had to admit that it made sense. However, he would never allow them to get hurt when he could take the hits. He saw the rest of his ragtag, orphan gang staring at the light haired boy like he was crazy.

"No way. No. Nuh uh. You aren't getting anywhere near the two of them." Peter immediately protested. 

Hudson opened his mouth to respond when they all heard a rustling from upstairs. The spiders were awakening from their slumber. 

"Go. Please, go." He urged.

"You save everyone, but who saves you?" Hudson mumbled. Peter knew he was frustrated. It was partly his obligation to protect their family. They'd had this talk before. Peter would have to use every toe and finger on his body to count all the times Peter had had to tell the boy that he protected them when Peter couldn't. And considering he went to a different school, that was most of the day.

Peter gave the six of them a tight lipped smile and shut the door before anyone could say anything.

* * *

The short story: it hurt. A lot

If he hadn't been in such crippling pain, Peter might- scratch that- _would_ have laughed at the situation. Terri and John were yelling at each other but attacking him in harmony.

They ended up forgiving each other so Peter guessed that he 'd be a good therapist if nothing else. 

He dragged himself to his room like the little arachnid he was and promptly passed out. It was a lovely way to spend most of his Sunday. 

When he joined the land of the living an hour later, he cleaned himself up as well as he could and texted Remi.

_Peter_

_yo, the beasts have left the den. i repeat, the beasts have left the den._

_Remi_

_Youre an idiot_

_u okay?_

_Peter_

_either that or delusional_

She didn't text back so Peter assumed he was in the clear.

Upon their return, Hudson spent exactly five seconds staring at Peter and then gripped his hair, stomping out the room. 

Remi sighed, "He's just... upset. He doesn't like that you won't let him help you. Ya know, you might feel like you have to protect us, but he does too. He hates that you have to suffer even if he appreciates it."

"Yeah, I get it."

Ava booped his nose. "Does that hurt? It looks icky." She frowned.

"Its fine, monkey." He said even though it felt like what he imagined those toads did when they got run over and squished. "Now, what'd you today? Have fun?"

***

Eventually, Hudson came back into the room. No one talked about it. They went on like they always did and Peter told them all about the internship. Remi made supper before the vultures could return and stole some foundation from Mrs. Hag. 

They laughed and they talked all night.

Luke said how he'd gotten an A on his math test and they all cheered him on, knowing how much he struggled in the subject.

Ava said she met a new friend.

Quinn said she got reprimanded for being the class clown. Apparently, if your teacher passed gas, you _were not_ supposed to say, "God, woman. Does your husband let you into bed with that thing?" and gesture to her booty.

But the night was good despite the terrors of the day.

***

Come Monday morning, Remi quite generously applied foundation to Peter's bruised face. Surprisingly, the swelling had gone down enough for his face to look relatively normal. Now, all he had to do was not cry or sweat. Easy.

They usually didn't bother with covering the bruises because Ned and MJ thought it was Spiderman and the general public thought it was bullies. But today was different.

* * *

Peter was nervous. In fact, nervous wasn't a good word. It wasn't a strong enough word. He was terrified like a giant lobster had crawled out of his left pinky toe and tried to devour him. He felt like his heart had somehow stolen a jump rope and decided cardio was important. He felt like he was going to spontaneously combust. 

School went fine. Actually, it went great. Flash didn't bother him and MJ and Ned were reassured by his lack of bruises.

But now Peter was standing before the looming Avengers Tower and Harry Potter was he scared. He was about to meet Tony Stark. Thor, strike him with lightning now.

Shuffling into the lobby akwardly, he was able to note that he was the youngest person there even though he was gawking at the pristine white, glass covered room that was filled with laughter, chatter, and buzzing. People stood around, rushed around, and some even zoomed here and there on rollerblades. 

"Um, h-hi." Peter stuttered to the receptionist. She appeared to be in her fifties with thin glasses perched on her face and brunette hair tied into a bun. 

"Oh, hiya, hun! My names Mrs. Lois. What can I do for a sweet thing like you?" Her accent was southern and Peter blushed at her nicknames. She seemed extremely kind.

"Oh, um, I'm-I'm, supposed to be starting an internship here."

"What's your name, baby boy?"

"Peter-Peter Parker."

Mrs. Lois gasped, "Aw, you're that smart little dumplin' they picked from a highschool, huh?"

"Uh, y-yes ma'am."

"Well, I hope you have a fantastic day with Mr. Stark. You just take this pass with you and scan it when you get in the elevator. FRIDAY will know where to take you." 

Peter didn't bother to ask who FRIDAY was. He knew it was Stark's AI. Instead, he thanked her and went on his way.

***

Scanning his pass, Peter jumped even though he was expecting the disembodied voice.

"Welcome, Mr. Parker. Sir is expecting you."

* * *

Peter almost gasped when he entered the room. Unfinished projects laid around harmlessly, tools were placed haphazardly on tables and right in the middle of it all sat Tony Stark.

"Ah, Mr. Parker." Mr. Stark exclaimed, flinging his arms out to the side. 

Peter stared at him, unsure of what to say. Or if he could even talk at all. 

"You okay, kid?" Tony asked, staring at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah-yeah. I just- I-I need a second." Peter cheeks were red he was blushing so hard. _Get it together, Parker._

Tony Stark waited patiently for him to recollect his nerdy self with mirth in his eyes.

"I- I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. That was totally creepy. You've just been my idol since I was, like, five. Thank you for accepting me as your intern." Peter rushed out in one breath.

"Woah, kid. Its all good. Don't stress about it. Seriously. They cause wrinkles and gray hair. Besides, I'm used to that reaction." Tony said, turning while gesturing for Peter to follow. 

"And you're like a mini genius. How old are you? Highschool, right?"

"Oh, um, yes, sir. 15." Peter stuttered like an idiot. How could he not? _Tony Stark was **right there**_! _Peter_ was his intern.

"Ooh, you're a young, little thing. I remember the teenage years. Rough. Anyways, since its your first day, I thought we'd do something simple and organize. Get to know each other a bit. Sound good?"

Peter was startled when Tony looked at him for his answer. "Oh-oh yeah. Sounds good." 

"Great." Tony smiled, waving a hand at the boxes in front of him. "Why don't you start with that and I'll fix us something to drink?" The billionaire moved to the little kitchen area he had. He picked up the coffee pot.

"Want some coffee? Wait, can you have coffee? God, I know nothing about kids. Probably not the best thing to say considering I'm mentoring one. You heard nothing."

Peter laughed and said that _yes_ he could have some. They talked for a while, Peter becoming more comfortable by the minute. His sleeves hitched up a few times, revealing the dark bruises around his wrists, but Tony said nothing so he guessed the older man never saw.

When it was nearing his curfew, Peter excused himself and went home.

* * *

Tony liked the kid. He was funny, and awkward, and incredibly intelligent and a damn near carbon copy of himself.

He went up to the common room half an hour after the kid left to find Steve, Bruce, Natasha, and Clint all in the living room with Chinese cartons sitting on the coffee table.

Nat and Clint were curled up in the couch while Steve sat in a chair still nibbling on a spring roll. They were watching some brain-numbing TV show. 

Bruce walked from the kitchen with a mug of coffee. "Hey, Tony. How was the kid?"

"He was great actually. A genius. Literally. And he totally loves me so that's a plus. I really liked him, but something seemed a little off." They both settled onto the couch as Tony expressed his concerns.

By then, the other three had snapped their attention to the conversation. "Like what?" Natasha asked.

"I don't know. He just kinda flinched if I touched him or raised my hand near him. And..."

"What, Tony?" Steve asked, brows furrowed.

"His... wrists had bruises around them... like someone grabbed him. At first, I though it was a trick of the lights, but I saw them like three times. It was definitely bruises."

Clint and Natasha shared a knowing look.

"Just keep an eye on the kid, Tony. It could be nothing. but it could also be something." Clint finally said, reasonably. "Might even just be bullies."

"Yeah. I hope you're right."


	4. and oh, don't the gods hate me so

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love y'all. You are fucking awesome. 
> 
> (Unnecessary cursing? Hell yeah!)

His mouth was dry. Like very, very dry. Like the-dessert-tony-was-stuck-in-while-stranded-in-Afghanistan-give-me-some-fucking-water-you-selfish-asshole dry. 

And why was that?

Well, Peter might have left the tower on time to get back to the orphanage, but detours were not a part of the calculated plan. So being the self sacrificing idiot that he was, Peter pulled up his hood to save some lady who was being mugged and ended up getting home late. 

Late enough that every inch of his body was freshly sore because Cerberus, the protector of the gates of Hell, had decided to use his body as a chew toy.

And his mouth was also caked in a thin layer of coppery blood.

Everyone was already asleep by the time he managed to stumble into his shared bedroom- Mondays were rough, okay? He had a charmingly dark bruise that draped sexily around his throat and a beautiful-

Okay that was a lie. The hand-print shaped bruises engulfing his pale neck were dark and furious, a newly laid discoloration rested on his face in stark contrast to his pallor cheekbone, and his back was a mess of blemishes and scrapes from the repeated hitting of a belt. 

He had taken a small visit to the bathroom to clean up and shower. Unfortunately, Peter still had homework to do. In his dizzied, distracted, and injured state, he ended up taking half a million hours to finish it and get into the shower. 

As Peter basked in the relieving warmth of the water, his phone began ringing out. Scrambling to grab it before he awoke anyone, Peter glanced at what his alarm said in disbelief. 

_Go to sleep now for a full 20 minutes of sleep_

Shit.

So Peter did a hop, skip, and a jump to get out of the dwindling heat and practically leaped into clean clothes. Rushing to his bed as quickly as possible, but staying aware of creaky floorboards and screeching doors, Peter slipped under his thin covers and let his eyes drift shut, thinking about how badly Remi was going to yell at him.

* * *

And yell she did. Mr. and Mrs. Moore both left early for work so Remi was able to freely parch her vocal cords as much as she wanted. 

She ranted about how he was going to go into a coma one day or the pain would become too much and he would lose himself, or the Devils were going to kick him out, or that he was going to permanently scar them all because he _scared them so much_.

Peter tried making a joke about how the Moores would never throw out their favorite punching bag because even Quinn was being quiet, but it just made them all upset.

So Peter explained himself, left out some details and added a couple for his own selfish benefit. At the end of it, Remi and Quinn hugged him, Ava said he was like a superhero which made him chuckle, Owen and Luke smiled weakly at him, and Hudson said a little something that shined light on his current inner turmoil. 

"That's great, man. I mean, its great you would do something like that for someone you don't even know, but when does it end?"

"Hudson-" Remi interrupted.

"No! You're so selfless that it's threatening your life! And I love you, Peter. I love you so much because you're my brother, but it is so _hard_ to see you lookin' like that and then have to stand around those bastards," Remi was probably quaking in her future grave," and not strangle them. I hate that you're all here, I hate that I'm here, and I _hate_ that Peter keeps getting hurt for me."

Hudson took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I- I- sorry."

"You're right." Luke said after a moment. Everyone's eyes trailed to the shy boy. What was happening? Peter had no clue where all this guilt was coming from. Okay, yeah he knew that Hudson harbored some, but that badly?

"None us _like_ that Peter takes our beatings and is just generally the orphan poster child of abuse, but we all appreciate it. And as much as I would love for _them_ to get arrested, I like my friends, I like our school, and I _love_ you guys. So if Peter is willing to carry the weight of such a big burden, then I'll let him and just try to be the best brother ever."

The kitchen was struck into silence after that, but eventually a few incoherent mutters erupted and a group hug formed. Yeah, sappy.

So then breakfast was shoved in front of face. A _lot_ of breakfast.

***

Remi plastered some foundation across Peter's neck because that was extremely hard to explain. They left the bruise on his face just for the sake of rationing it and then Peter greedily shook a handful of ibuprofen into his palm and swallowed it with a large, refreshing glass of water because his back, neck, and face hurt like a bitch.

God, how was he supposed to get through today with 18 minutes and 32 seconds of sleep while uncaffeinated and in extreme pain?

* * *

"That looks nasty." Ned hissed sympathetically while staring at the bruise marring Peter's skin. "How'd it happen?"

"Mugging gone wrong." Peter sighed. It was half of the truth. He shut his locker and put the newly acquired books into his bag. 

"I didn't think Spiderman went out last night. Or anytime in the last few days." MJ said a bit carelessly, but a bit suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, settling his face into one of confusion. Dammit, why did she have to be so observant?

"I'm just saying, the News has actually commented that they haven't seen you in a few days. Probably would have made a big deal if you miraculously showed up again." She stared him straight in the eyes as she spoke to him. It made Peter's heart start to pound quicker.

"Yeah, I stuck to the shadows last night. There wasn't really much crime out." Peter responded quickly, trying to calm his heartrate and get MJ off his trail. If that woman was suspicious, he would be found out. She was like a hound on a scent.

MJ made a dismissive sound like she didn't believe him and after an awkward moment of silence, Ned cleared his throat and started babbling about Star Wars.

* * *

Peter managed to survive Tuesday despite the fact that he fell asleep in just about every class, got reprimanded by several teachers, and collapsed into his bed without accomplishing any of his homework.

Flashforward to Wednesday afternoon and Peter was heading to Stark Industries.

His bruises hadn't faded at all, only changed color slightly like a leaf in the Fall. So with makeup covering up his mostly secret hardships and a red hoodie pulled tightly around his neck, Peter said a polite hello to Mrs. Lois and stepped into the pristine elevator where he was greeted by FRIDAY.

"Hey, Mr. Stark." Peter greeted, rubbing his eyes against the sluggishness he felt. 

"Aya, kid! Whatcha been up to?" Tony responded, wheeling back to look at his protégé from where he was pulled up to his desk staring at holographs. He promised the team, especially Clint, that he would keep an eye on the kid and report back to them.

Peter shrugged, walking further into the lab. "Homework."

"Great!" Tony smiled, clapping his hands and waving away the holographic screen. "I got a lot of shit- uh stuff I need help with."

"You seem happy today." Peter said, dropping his book sack next to a work bench.

"Yeah, well, I slept for the first time in a week. You would too." Peter felt his mouth drop open at the knowledge that his idol rarely slept though he guessed it made sense. Tony carried on, nearly to himself. "Though it was at the urging of Bruce, manhandling of Clint, and intimidation of Natasha... oh well! I slept and I feel great! So, about that help."

Turns out, Tony had a boat load of little boxy things that needed _this and this screwed in to be perfect. Ain't she a beaut'?_

Peter was too tired to make any observations for himself.

***

After 20 minutes of watching the kid alternate between rubbing his eyes and screwing in bolts, Tony spoke.

"Hey, kid why don't we take a break? You look like you're about to keel over."

Why was he so tired? Well, he was a Highschool student. 

This was being a responsible adult, right? Pepper would be proud (and not because he consulted her about what to do in random situations).

Peter nodded absently and set down the thing he was working on.

"Why don't we go up to the common room? Tonight's movie night and we were gonna wait till later, but I doubt any of the team will protest to having it earlier." Tony said, gauging the teenager's facial expressions and seeing how far he could push his luck.

Despite feeling like a whale was insistently trying to flop on his eyelids, Peter shot up when he heard the man's suggestion. "Oh, n-no. I wouldn't want to-to intrude of any-anything. We can just keep working."

"Kid, c'mon." Tony insisted stubbornly. "They said they wanted to meet you after I bragged about your brain to Bruce. Besides, like I said, they won't care. Promise." 

Peter and Tony sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Peter finally, reluctantly, agreed.

 _Guess I'm meeting the Avengers_ Peter thought as he felt 10 metaphorical shots of expresso enter his bloodstream and his heartbeat skyrocketed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, sucky writing, I know. But I'm updating again in like four days so hold your horses.


	5. Single:? Taken:? Cursed or some shit: <-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, my beautiful, beautiful Mythical Children! I just want to thank you all for giving me such positive feedback on this story. I love y'all!
> 
> WARNING!!! Cringe
> 
> Hold onto your hats ladies, gentlemen and dragons.

Now that Peter and Tony were in the elevator going up to the Avengers' quarters, Peter was able to think clearly. Well, not clearly, but he was able to think. _And holy fucking hell why did he agree to this?!_

"Kid, you okay?"

_Never have and never will be. Why?_

"Yeah, Mr. Stark. I guess I'm just more tired than I thought."

Tony seemed to accept it as a good enough answer because he just grunted in acknowledgement and pulled out his phone.

This wasn't a good idea. This was not a good idea _at all_ _._

He was going to meet the Avengers. Holy Fucking Hell. 

_Deep breaths, Parker. You're fine._

He was decidedly less fine when the elevator doors opened.

* * *

"Hey, guys! This is Peter. That super smart teenager that totally loves me and is my intern because he's, like I said, super smart." Tony exclaimed, clapping a hand on Peter's shoulder. Peter tried not to flinch, but the instinct that was drilled into his brain that was screaming _contact=bad_ wasn't listening much. Hopefully, the older man didn't notice and judging by the fact that the superhero didn't acknowledge it, Peter assumed he was in the clear. 

He glanced up from where he was looking at his shoes with a blush gracing his cheeks like a summer sunset long enough to see Bruce Banner reading a book on the couch, Natasha Romanov curled up on a comfortable looking loveseat like a cat, and Clint Barton hopping off the back of the couch from where he had originally been. 

"Hey, if it ain't the prodigy Tony was tellin' us about!" Clint smiled, walking over to them.

Before Peter had a chance to say something and embarrass himself, Natasha sauntered over with a soft grin on her face.

"Hello, Peter. It's nice to meet you." 

That's when everything went to shit because Peter is a goddamn fanboy.

"Oh my god, you're Black Widow. You look even more deadly and, in the most appropriate and respectful way possible, beautiful in person. I just- you're such an amazing role model for women and- and well, anyone really. One of my best friends idiloizes you and Pepper Potts becuase of how empowering you both are- and I'm just going to stop talking now. Sorry." Peter babbled quickly, looking down in embarrassment. 

Did he seriously just ramble in front of a bunch of superheros?! He was _such_ a dork. 

If anything, Natasha's grin grew. She looked up at Tony. "I love the kid already."

Peter wasn't really able to pay much attention to Clint whispering _He passed the Nat test_ to Tony because his chocolate brown eyes locked onto the scientist that was still sitting with mirth in his eyes.

"Dr. Banner! I've read all of your papers on gamma radiation and physics. You're a genius. Um, sorry." Peter rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. They didn't want to hear him ramble like an idiot. If he kept it up, Tony would throw him to the curb.

Bruce stood. "Oh, that's quite alright. Thank you, but I have to ask: How old are you? You seem a little young to understand something so advanced."

Peter blushed harsher. Harsh enough that in a tomato-look-alike competition, he would win. Four fucking heros were staring at him.

"Oh, um, I'm-I'm 15, sir."

"Wow. You must be really smart like Tony said. I can't believe you understood my thesis'."

Peter opened his to respond. Perhaps to explain his fascination with science and engineering, but just then, Captain America walked into the room. He was sweaty with a small, white towel hung over his shoulder.

_Don't you dare, Parker. Don't you fucking dare._

"Who's really smart like Tony said?" He asked, looking at his teammates before zeroing in on Peter and then searching the group's faces again. "Why is there a child standing on our carpet?"

"Would you rather him float?" Tony asked sarcastically. 

"This," Clint said, flinging his arm around Peter's shoulders, _fuck his stupid flinching reflexes,_ "is my new sidekick." 

"No, he's not!" Tony exclaimed in mock outrage. 

Bruce sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "This is Peter. Tony's intern." He explained.

"Yep!" Clint yipped, "And Nat likes him, so we all like him. It's how it works." 

Peter flushed _again_ and stammered out a greeting. "H-hi." 

"Good to meet you, son. Sorry about that. How are you?" Steve asked politely.

"Embarrassed," Peter admitted which made the team laugh. He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck again, fingers of his opposite hands twitching at his side. It was a nervous habit of his. And right now, he was surrounded by five of the most powerful humans in existence and they were laughing at something he said. _Deep, deep breaths._

"Okay, okay, but the real reason we're up here and not being intelligent in the lab is because Thumper over here is, like, super tired. And he kept protesting, but I'm really stubborn and was victorious." Tony said, throwing his arms in the air at the end of his explanation.

"I-I'm sorry." Peter stuttered trepidatiously, apologetically. 

"No need to apologize, Peter. Tony's pretty pigheaded. Besides, we all wanted to meet you. Why don't we start movie night early and you can join us. How does that sound?" Natasha asked.

Clint, however, just shivered. "Highschool." He muttered despairingly. "Never, _ever_ again." 

* * *

They were all sitting on the couch watching Brave when it happened.

It wasn't even five o'clock, but the Avengers still ordered Chinese. _Fast, easy and delicious._ According to Clint. 

Just as they reached the part where Merida was riding Angus through the forest and shooting her bow- _when did you grow out your hair?-_ Peter felt the desperate, sluggish claws of sleep grip him. 

_Why did he ever think this was a good idea?_

***

_Peter slipped into his unlocked window quietly, high on endorphins. Stripping himself from the suit, he realized how thirsty he was as he tried swallowing._

_Debating on whether or not he should ignore his bodily needs and go to bed or get some water, Peter put his superhuman ears to good use. He didn't_ hear _anything from the other room._

_Later, Peter would learn that his brain was still ringing with adrenalin and that was why he didn't hear anything._

_Deciding to risk it, Peter sneaked into the kitchen and was about to turn on the tap to fill up his glass when a noise cut through the silence like a burning, white hot knife._

_"What do you think you're doing?" John._ Fuck.

_"I-I was just thirsty, sir."_

_"And? You think we want to waste water on you just because you're_ thirsty _?" John staggered towards him, empty beer bottle falling from his fingers and clattering to the floor._

_Peter swallowed thickly, staring at the bottle like it was his death sentence. "No, sir."_

_"Then what the hell do you think you're doing?" John nearly shouted._

_"I-I-I'm sorry, sir." Peter quickly said._

_"I-I-I- you sound like an idiot! The hell is wrong with you, you stupid, little bitch?" John reached Peter then, grabbed him around the neck and pushed him against the wall. The sudden action caused the glass to drop from his hand and break upon contact with the floor._

_Peter felt his face begin to feel overly tight, felt the heat that encased it, felt the tears rise in his eyes that felt like they were bulging from their sockets._

_"You're worthless, Peter. Stupid and useless. You're a little bitch who's gonna regret being born one day when everything around you goes to shit. Though I guess it already has because your entire family killed themselves to away from you."_

_John dropped Peter to the floor just as he felt unconsciousness knock on his internal door. "Clean this shit up."_

_The tears that fell down Peter's face like salty and painful waterfalls weren't from the strangulation or the shards of glass digging into his face._

* * *

"Peter! _Peter!_ " Tony shouted, shaking the boy's shoulder gently. 

It was then that Peter's eyes shot open. He surprised everyone when he frantically shoved himself off the couch and onto the floor, pushing himself up against a nearby seat. He was panting heavily, eyes blown open and searching the room rapidly. 

"Peter?" Natasha questioned softly. She advanced forward slowly, kneeling down and displaying her hands obviously. "You with us?" 

Peter nodded slightly, and the group tried to ignore the tears that were pricking at the minor's eyes. 

"Are you okay, Peter?" Natasha asked. It was obvious that he wasn't, but the question was more of a body language gage, not a spoken one.

Peter just nodded again. No one said anything for a moment, but then Peter was racing to his feet. 

"I have to- I have to go." He muttered, making a swift beeline for the elevator. He ignored Tony crying, "Kid, wait!" after him.

* * *

Three guesses as to who got both hell and heaven beaten out of them for breaking curfew.

* * *

A few minutes after Peter left, Clint threw a vase against the wall. They all cringed away against the noise. 

Clint gripped his hair. "He shows the signs. He shows the fucking signs. I hate this. I hate this _so much."_

Bruce, Tony, Natasha, and Steve all bowed their heads appropriately for a second. They knew how Clint felt _and reacted_ around child abuse.

"I swear to anything breathing that if someone is hurting my kid, I will kill them." Tony said. The anger in his voice was evident but the worry/concern drowned it out a bit. No one seemed to notice that he said ' _my_ kid'.

"Obsessive apologizing, flinching upon touch, violent nightmares, and body language that showed he felt inconvenient. He definitely has the signs of a child with abusive trauma." Natasha commented, fingers twitching around an invisible gun or knife.

"I don't understand how people could hurt an innocent child." Steve said with a hard edge to his voice. 

"We have to help that kid. We _have_ to." Clint said, jaw clenched with stressed determination. 

"We are. We just have to get him to open up to us, trust us. Next time he comes around, if he comes back, I'll up the amount of times Peter interns for. That way we can appropriately help him." Tony planned, not going into a planless, reckless mindset for once.

"Or," Bruce said after not speaking in order to get The Other Guy under control, "We could get the assistance of FRIDAY and speed up the process a bit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I feel like my Avenger interactions/reactions suck.


	6. I Never Told My Story Yet It Was Read Aloud

"Did you get me any?" Clint groaned from where he was sprawled out on the couch. He gasped loudly and exaggeratedly when Tony came into view carrying only one mug- science pun themed. "That's it. We're done. I'm breaking up with you."

"Good," Tony replied, plopping down next to the archer and taking a sip of heaven. "It was a forced relationship anyway."

Clint watched the billionaire through narrowed eyes before snatching the cup from him and taking his own long draw with a sigh of content. He nestled into Tony's side slightly and said, " Okay. We're together again."

Natasha walked in from where she was likely lurking in the dark corners, going to the fridge to get a punnet of blueberries. "Oh, come on, Tony. Give him a kiss and tell him you love him already." 

She leaned over the counter, prize sitting before her and tossed one into her mouth with a perfectly groomed eyebrow raised.

Tony rolled his eyes, eased his mug from Clint and stood up. "Nah, I'm waiting for him to tell me first."

Natasha chuckled lightly and poured a cup of coffee with two teaspoons of sugar added. "Here, Clint," she said.

The man in question made grabby hands when the assassin delivered an utterly fantastic cup of coffee to him. 

"See?" He asked, feeling the liquid ambrosia flow through his veins, "She treats me better than you do." 

Tony arched one eyebrow at the archer in disbelief. "Uh, excuse me, sweetheart, but I seem to remember making you 100 explosive and 50 electrocuting arrows along with a new set of light weight, titanium, throwing knives yesterday." 

Clint's eyes blew open comically as he hastily set down his mug, jumped to his feet and ran to Tony, gripping his shoulders."I'm so sorry, babe. You treat me wonderfully." He put the cherry on top by kissing Tony's cheek. 

Steve jogged into the room, took one look at the duo and said, "Clint forcing Tony into a relationship again?" It wasn't really a question.

Natasha nodded mutely, throwing a water bottle to the muscled man. 

"It is not force!" Clint protested. 

Tony went over to Natasha to snag some of the redhead's foraged meal. 

"When's the honeymoon?" Nat asked also taking a sip of the genius' beverage. Tony shot her a look like "I can't believe you just did that" before simply replying, "I dunno. Still waiting for him to propose."

"And I'm still waiting for you to give me enough money for a ring." Clint shot back from where he was now perched on the back of the couch, cup in hand once again.

Before anyone could say anything else, Bruce slumped into the room, hair disheveled, shirt rumpled and glasses askew. He made a beeline for the coffee pot. 

"Woah!" Tony commented. "No tea, Doctor?"

"I'm too tired for tea." Bruce fired back.

He downed one cup in rapid succession-the Titanic would be quaking-and poured himself another cup looking more refreshed. Tony briefly wondered if he was human- and then realized he wasn't. 

There was Tony who drank coffee like it was his blood, and there was Clint who usually just chugged straight from the pot- much to everyone's annoyance. Bruce either nursed a cup of coffee or sipped his tea- he didn't chug it like he might drown if not.

"Okay!" The scientist clapped his hands together and seemed far more energetic, "So, Peter should be coming over today, Tony invites the kid to stay on Fridays as well, we do a diagnostic scan of him, and we don't press him on the subject. Tony briefly talks to him alone about it in the lab and no one else mentions the nightmare. Got it?"

Everyone nodded their consent. This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

Peter panted from where he had just ran to school. He got hit around a bit, missed the bus and probably had 20 seconds until the bell rang, marking him tardy, but _god he couldn't breathe._

Ignoring the stitch in his side that protested loudly at the movement, stabbing him like a shrimp, Peter trudged on.

He arrived to class just a the bell rung, shooting an apologetic smile to his teacher who just gave him stern look and gestured for him to sit. 

"Hey," Ned whispered, "Why were you almost late?" 

"I missed my bus." Peter answered, keeping his eyes on the board whilst retrieving a pencil. 

MJ, who had leaned forward in her seat to listen, muttered, "Seems like a personal problem." but there was no bite to it. 

"Dude," Ned whispered again, nudging Peter's arm. "Why didn't you text me? My mom totally would have picked you up. She, like, totally loves you."

Peter opened his mouth to respond, to say he didn't want to bother Mrs. Leeds, but the teacher interrupted them. "Something you'd like to share with the class, gentlemen?" 

"No, ma'am," Peter said quickly, "I was just asking Ned if you announced anything important." 

She gave a huff of acknowledgment and turned back to the board. 

Peter settled down in his seat and stared out the window. He had the internship today. He didn't really want to go, but at the same time he couldn't _not_ go.

* * *

"Pete, pal, look. I just wanna say this before things get awkward. Everyone understands, okay? We've all had nightmares. We get it. Its okay. No one is going to say anything about so don't stress." 

Peter stared in shock for a moment, feeling the nerve-bees in his stomach and chest slowly begin to dissipate. "T-th-thank you, Mr. Stark." 

"Course," Tony responded, clapping is hands together. "Great. Wonderful. Actually, I wanted to- or rather, the entire team wanted to ask you if you'd like to come on Fridays too? Say no if you'd like."

Once again, Peter was trapped in traitorous silence. "Oh-um ye-yes. That sounds great! Thank you." 

Tony smiled, clearly amused. "Fantastic. Come here, I need to see something." 

Peter slowly walked toward him, reminding himself that this was _Tony._

"Wonderful. Exactly what I need. Perfect." The billionaire said, examining Peter's smaller hands. He made it rather obvious with deliberate movements that he was going to grab the kid, but he still felt the slight tremor that ran down his arm. 

"How good are you with a wrench?"

* * *

"I got it!" Tony shouted as soon as the elevator doors opened with a ding.

"What? STDs?" Clint asked from where he was draped over the couch while twirling a drumstick in his hand and watching some type of comedy. 

Tony ignored him, striding further into the room. "You did get it, right, FRI?" 

_"Of course, sir. You told me to after all. Would you like for me to read you the list of current injuries?"_

Everyone gathered around the couch to listen to the AI speak.

_"Mr. Parker seems to be suffering from severe malnutrition, austere bruises around the neck, arms, wrists, face, legs and ankles, cuts along his back, legs, arms, chest, and abdomen and has a multitude of both fresh and old scarring."_

The room was silent for a solid five minutes. "Right." Tony eventually said tightly before stalking off down the hall.

"Where are you going?" called Steve.

"To kick some ass." Tony said like it was obvious. Bruce pushed passed him breathing heavily. Half of Tony wanted to go after him, but he knew it was best to let his science bro get the Other Guy under control alone. 

"We need more evidence." Natasha said sharply.

"Evidence?" Tony echoed incredulously, gesturing as though there were a screen full of Peter's injuries. "That's enough evidence for me!"

"She's right." Clint said quietly, voice as tight as Tony's. "The case would legally never go. Plus, the kid didn't even admit to anything."

Tony grumbled something, walking back into the room and crossing his arms. "Wait till Pepper gets back to meet him and I tell her about this."

The elevator dinged.

"Who am I meeting and what are you telling me?"


	7. Mom Alert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Ho, darlings! How are we doing today? I wanted to say thank you for the sweetness. And that I am so happy that y'all seem to love Pepper. 
> 
> Enjoy!

"Okay, so let me get this straight. Tony has a fifteen year old genius working as his intern who is adorable, sweet, and innocent of whom you suspect is being abused and you would all like to murder his guardians." Pepper simplified. 

"Exactly." Tony replied after explaining the dire situation to his wife.

Pepper sighed, "Is that all that happened while I was away?"

Natasha, who was currently braiding her fiery locks, said, "Clint tried to steal your husband."

"It's not stealing if you know the person." Clint said in retribute, tossing a ball into the air. He was on the couch with his torso on the sitting part and legs draped over the back. 

"I don't think that's how it works," said Steve.

"What would you know, Mr.-Goody-Two-Shoes?"

"Quite a bit, actually."

"I bet-"

"OKAY!" shouted Pepper, "That's enough. No fighting. Now, when do I get to meet this little sweetheart?"

"Well...what day is it again?" Tony asked, nearly to himself, rubbing his temple.

"Its Monday." Bruce helpfully supplied.

"Right, so Petey Pie should be coming around on Wednesday."

"Great! Now, Nat, I have _got_ to tell you about what happened in France."

"Lead the way, Pep."

* * *

Peter woke up Tuesday morning feeling significantly better. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Ava was pouncing on his chest. 

"Peter! Peter! Mr. John and Mrs. Terri are gone, and Remi's making pancakes, and Hudson drew me a picture, and Owen's doin' homework again, and Luke and Quinn are being funny and I came to wake you up!"

Peter chucked, rubbing his eyes and sitting up in bed. "I can see that."

Ava stared up at him with those big, doey eyes from where she now sat in Peter's lap, having slid off his chest.

Peter smiled. He couldn't believe such great kids were doomed to grow up in such a hostile environment. He planted a quick kiss to her brow and said, "You were saying something about pancakes, huh?"

* * *

"Look who's on time," MJ commented plainly.

For the first time in forever, Peter arrived to school _early._ He grinned dopily at her, grabbing his school books.

"And lookin' happier than ever. What? Flash get hit by a bus?" Ned joked, but his tone inferred he was completely serious.

"Its just a good day."

***

"Seriously?! Its not even cloudy! Today sucks!"

"The weather is mysterious. Wanna ride?" Ned questioned, shouldering his bag and getting ready to race to his car as soon as Mrs. Leeds arrived.

Peter hesitated. He had originally planned to go patrolling today, but that wasn't going to happen. He hadn't gone in an eternity and it was _killing_ him. "Um, I don't know. Are you sure it wouldn't be a bother?"

"Dude," Ned deadpanned, "Valhalla literally opened the floodgates. Besides, I'm already driving MJ. We can go to my house and build that new Lego set my dad bought me."

Peter looked towards the girl in question who raised an eyebrow, gave a two fingered salute and stared into his soul like she was daring him to say no.

Peter's pearly white smile was radiant. "Sounds awesome."

* * *

"Natasha, I don't know how or why you're doing this, but please stop."

"How? Because I'm awesome. Why? Because I can."

"It is _physically impossible-"_

"Nah, its Nat. Nothing's physically impossible." said Clint, dusting off his hands after his pushup reps. 

The "physically impossible" task the 5'3 assassin was doing was pull ups. Except she had her legs hooked under Steve's armpits and was lifting him with her.

"I weigh 200 pounds. She shouldn't be able to do this."

"Yeah, well, that's Tasha for you," said a new voice. Craning his head, Steve saw Bruce sticking his head into the doorway. "Come on, Pepper ordered us food."

"What is it?" Clint asked, wiping his face on a towel. 

"Your favorite."

The archer's eyes lit up like a kid's on Christmas. "Yes!" he shouted, running out the room.

"Natasha, _please put me down."_

* * *

Come Wednesday afternoon, Peter felt invigorated. Everything was cool with Mr. Stark and the Avengers and the bruises on his face finally faded. Flash was acting like a dick today, surprise, surprise, but the only physical thing he did was shoving Peter and knocking shoulders with him.

Everything was looking up for him quite honestly.

"Heya, sweetums! Its just lovely to see your cute, little, face today! How are you?" Mrs. Lois asked, as nice as ever.

Peter grinned in amusement. "I'm just fine, Mrs. Lois. How are you?" 

"Hunky dory, baby, just hunky dory." The woman beamed at him, giving Peter an exasperated look when the phone rang. Peter laughed, waved goodbye and climbed into the elevator. 

_"Welcome, Mr. Parker. Sir is expecting you."_

"Hi, FRIDAY. Um... where are we going?" Peter inquired the AI. They had passed the floor that Peter was usually delivered to, the workshop/lab.

_"Sir has requested that you are taken to the Common Room. Unless you have any objections of course, Mr. Parker."_

"No, no its-its fine." 

***

"Just for the record, he is most likely going to ramble about how great you are when he sees you." Tony warned.

"Something I have no problem with." Pepper replied. "Ohh when's he getting here? I want to meet him."

 _"Mr. Parker is currently in the elevator."_ FRIDAY answered. 

True to her word, a few seconds later the doors opened to reveal a baby faced boy with dark hair. Pepper watched as his eyes did a full sweep of the room, taking in the Avengers before landing on her. They blew wide open, surprise marring his young face. 

"Yo-you're Pepper Potts."

"I am." Pepper smiled. _He was so cute._

"I'm totally about to embarrass myself, but you are amazing and super empowering. Stark Industries, no, the entire world would go into chaos without you. Thank you for existing." Peter babbled quickly. 

Tony, Natasha, Clint, Steve and Bruce all laughed which caused Peter to blush redder, looking at his feet. "Definitely smart then, I see." The CEO smirked, walking towards the boy. She slowly extended her hand, pleasantly surprised when he didn't flinch under her touch.

Letting out a sound that was a mix between an 'Aw' and an 'Oh', Pepper proceeded to card her fingers through his hair. "He's just adorable. Aw, I love this kid." 

Clint laughed. "Looks like you're being replaced, Tony."

Tony let out an indignant squawk. " _Offended. Just offended!_ You can't replace me!"

Bruce sidled up closer to his science bro, gripping his shoulder. "I dunno, Tones," he said, "Brown hair, brown eyes, genius, short. Definitely been replaced."

"Okay," Tony smirked mischievously, "If I'm replaced, then who's Clint gonna force into relationships? Pete's underage. That's illegal. And gross."

Clint panicked, swiveling his head to look around the room. "Eh, Steve. He might be blonde, buff and a bit dimmer, but I'm willing to try new things."

"Uh, no. I'm not getting in one of your weird love triangles, Clint," 

"Don't even think about it." Bruce deadpanned.

"Okay, boys, while y'all try to figure out whose holding whose hand, Pepper and I are gonna feed this little cutie and watch a movie." Natasha said, smiling to Peter as she and the strawberry blonde woman began leaving the group.

"He is legally in my custody at this exact moment! You can't steal him!" Tony exclaimed.

Natasha flipped him off.

* * *

Peter sighed, burying his head into his hands. Terri and John started screaming about an hour ago. Hudson took Ava and Quinn to their bedroom to play a game to distract them. Remi, Luke and Owen followed, of course.

The harmful couple left to go to some cheap bar, saying nothing more than _We'll be back when we feel like it_.

Knowing the two alcoholics, it would be some unruly hour of the morning. Suddenly, a soft hand rested firmly on Peter's shoulder.

"It'll be okay," Remi said, "They'll be okay. I don't know how, but You, Hudson and I? We're gonna protect them. We're gonna get them out and they're gonna have a great life."

"I hate this. I hate this _so_ _much_." Peter said, voice tightening. "They don't deserve it. They don't deserve all of this. I just wish that they could have a normal life. I wish you could all have a normal life."

"I know. I know." 

***

Peter slipped out the window donning his Spiderman suit. The orphanage owners were still missing, probably passed out intoxicated, and everyone else was asleep. 

The rain had stopped finally, so despite the hazard created by the slick buildings, Peter launched himself off the structure.

It wasn't long until his super hearing picked up on a frantic scream. Swinging swiftly to the location, Peter spotted a woman and a man wildly waving a gun.

"Get away from me!" screamed the woman. 

"C'mon, don't be difficult, lady." The man forced out, sounding frustrated. 

"Trouble in paradise?" Peter said dropping down to face the man. "Come on, dude. Leave her alone."

"What the hell? Mind your own business!" Shouted the assaulter. 

Peter grabbed the man by his shoulders and yanked him away from the woman, leaving him sprawled on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked. The lady nodded, fear plastering her face.

"Fine then," the man decided, "Try an' save someone who's dead."

Peter heard the gunshot and before he had time for his slowed spidey-sense to kick in, he jumped in front of the woman.

The only thing he could register was a feminine scream and a piercing, stabbing pain. Hand quickly gluing itself to his side, Peter gasped when he saw blood leak from between his fingers.

Without thinking, he webbed the strange man to the wall. 

"Thank-thank you!" the woman gasped. "Are you- are you okay?"

"Fine, ma'am. I should go."

Peter swung away, only stopping when he landed on some unknown building. He was beginning to feel a bit faint. To his utter surprise, hot tears gushed from his eyes. 

He wasn't crying from the pain, even if it hurt like hell. He was crying because the bullet was still in him and he didn't know what to do. _Oh god what the hell was he supposed to do?_

"I-I don't- I don't know what to do." He said aloud, a sob crawling up his throat and ripping itself free. _" I don't know what do to."_

He started swinging again, unconsciously going somewhere he felt safe. He ended up in the building somehow.

A building that was labeled _Stark Industries_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So while Chris Evans weighs around 180lbs, he said that he puts on about 20lbs of muscle for Captain America so...


	8. Here At The End Of All Things Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To know why this chapter was rushed, read the end notes.

"Okay, but scientifically-" 

"No, Tony, not scientifically."

"Okay, fine. _Hypothetically-_ why are there legs sticking out of the counter?" 

Protruding from the kitchen counter were two, blue clothed legs halfway obscured by red boots. 

"Are they dead?" asked Bruce, adjusting his glasses and staring more intently at the limp figure.

"I don't know. Nat, is that yours?" Clint directed to the redhead. 

Natasha held up her hands innocently, stepping back. "Never seen 'em. Wouldn't have left the body where we eat anyways. Its unsanitary."

"Okay. That's cool. That's cool. Real question: How'd 'e get in _my_ tower?" Tony sighed impatiently.

 _"His body signature was recognized, sir."_ FRIDAY helpfully implied.

"Huh."

Silence reigned among the group. Tony couldn't think of who would be laying unconscious on the Avengers' kitchen floor at this late hour. _Peter?_ He thought with fleeting panic. No, it was a school night and- and it just wasn't Peter. It couldn't be.

"Should we see who it is?" Steve said after a minute.

"Be my guest," Tony offered, gesturing widely with his arm and stepping to the side.

Steve scowled at him momentarily before proceeding toward the closed off area. He picked his way over the sprawled limbs with clumsy grace and paused. 

"Guys, I think its that vigilante. Spiderman?"

The group quickly crowed the two.

"He's bleeding," Natasha noted, swiping a long finger through the quickly pooling, crimson liquid. 

"What I don't understand is how FRIDAY recognized his body signature." Tony speculated. A nagging was knocking at the back of his head trying to worm its way into his brain. 

"I think I do," Clint spoke up, something akin to shocked fear lacing his voice heavily. 

Looking down, Tony could see that in the archer's scarred hand was the "superhero's" mask. 

And staring at the white ceiling with shut eyes was Peter Parker.

* * *

There was a beeping noise. Peter waited for a moment with closed eyes to see if it would stop, but it just continued steadily and annoyingly. 

Breathing deeply through his nose, he noticed another thing. Sterilization. The room smelled sterilized.

The beeping grew louder, louder, louder...

A heart monitor. It was a heart monitor. 

Peter moved to shove the stiff blanket off of him, but just then, the door opened. 

"Mr. Stark."

"Hey, Kid, said Tony, too soft to be characteristic. He shuffled forwards, sliding the door shut behind him. "You gave us all quite the scare."

"What-" happened.

Patrol.

A woman screaming.

An angry man.

Gun.

There was a gun.

He was shot.

And he swung to the Avengers' Tower.

And there was a heart monitor.

Which meant he was in the medbay.

"Figured it out already? Smart kid." The billionaire's smile was small, sad. Peter didn't like it.

Wait, if he was in the medbay then-

_Spiderman._

Peter swallowed, licking his lips nervously. The beeping grew louder once again. He felt like all the air was being sucked from the room in greedy gulps of heaping air. "M-m-Mr.-"

"Hey, hey, none of that. Its okay. We all understand." Tony said placidly, seeming to read the young boy's mind.

"Thank you." Peter said, pushing back a strange feeling he couldn't name.

"Don't mention it, kid. Now there is one thing we have to discuss. To get the bullet out, Bruce had to- well, he saw. We all already suspected it, but this just confirmed."

Wait, what? They all knew. The fucking Avengers all knew he was some poor, abused kid. Fucking great.

"Its um- its not what it- what it looks like," He stuttered, trying to salvage some dignity.

"Peter," the older man sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Please, don't try to deny it."

Silence.

Peter didn't know what he was supposed to say. Tony obviously didn't know what to say. What could he? 

_Yeah, sorry I didn't tell you I get the shit beat out of me everyday. Jello?_

"How long was I out?" He asked instead.

Tony loosed another sigh, glancing swiftly at his watch. "27 hours. And in that time, we've arrested Mr. and Mrs. Moore."

Peter paused all thought. "Wait, wait, what about the others? They're all really, really good kids, Mr. Stark. _Really_ good. Are they okay?"

Tony ran a calloused hand through Peter's dark hair. "They're fine, Pete. And I'm sure they are. They're being taken real good care of in a great SHIELD facility. The Moores' are being held in a SHIELD medbay for treatment of minor injuries. We have enough to put them away for a long ass time if I have anything to say about it. And I do. So that's that."

"Minor injuries?" Peter asked with a skeptical smile. He didn't bother asking how Tony found out he was an orphan. Or how he located said orphanage. 

"We're not gonna talk about it." Tony said quickly, his smile wider.

"Hmm. For being shot, I'm not feeling much."

"That'd be the morphine."

* * *

"How is he?" questioned Natasha, a nervous, concerned edge to her voice.

Pepper pushed her back into a seated position with a cursed mumble, wiping blood off her fair face with a damp cloth. 

"He's fine," Tony said, dropping a quick kiss to Pepper's head. "But if the Moores aren't in a jailcell in the next two hours, I'm pulling their fucking life support."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WAS ALMOST DONE WITH THIS GODDAMN CHAPTER AND IT FUCKING DELETED!!!!! IT FUCKING DELETED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	9. Here At The End Of All Things Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Hello, my beautiful babies! How are we doing today? 
> 
> Enjoy :)

So turns out, IVs work. Like really fucking well.

Peter was up and walking by about 5 o'clock. The bullet wound was a mere scab.

Immediately, he was swept off his feet and into the awaiting arms of Natasha, who was surprisingly strong for such a small person, and Pepper. Clint had nearly cut off his oxygen supply with the musclular hug he gave.

Peter convinced Tony to let him out of his sight long enough to go see his orphan buddies. He shuffled a bit nervously, suddenly overcome with a crippling, unexplainable fear. He was scared of what would happen when he stepped through the door, scared of what would happen to the kids on the other side, scared of their reactions. 

Taking a deep, grounding breath, Peter adjusted his shirt and opened the steel door. 

It drifted open on silence's wind. No one noticed him.

Luke was braiding Remi's hair while she read from a magazine, glancing up occasionally to watch Quinn and Ava. The two youngest, along with Owen and Hudson, were playing Uno with the deck of game cards they had somehow obtained. 

Peter stood silently for a moment, taking in the fact that they were okay. That they were all okay. 

Just then, Remi glanced at him, looked back at her entertainment, and then did a double take. 

"Peter," she breathed, going still.

"Guess who's not dead?" He asked lamely, sheepishly. He assumed they had been briefed on the situation. Maybe not to it's full content, but the children would have been told that Peter had been injured.

No one moved. No one said a thing.

In a flash, Ava was before him, small arms thrown around his hips and head buried in his abdomen. That seemed to throw everyone out of their trance because in the next moment, Peter was surrounded by his family.

Remi wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling away and checking him over. "Peter, you ass!" 

"Ooh, someone's getting feisty," Hudson teased, opening his arms for a hug. "Come here, Pete. I'll protect you from her wrath."

Peter accepted the embrace. He ended up with his face nestled into the older boy's chest because Hudson was a whopping 6'2. 

"Move, you moose, I wanna hug Peter." Quinn said playfully, elbowing Hudson's side. 

Chuckling, the teenager released Peter and allowed the blonde to do a wonderful impersonation of an octopus. 

Peter felt a warmth float into his chest and submerge his heart pleasantly. He was so relieved that they were okay, hell he was relieved that _he_ was okay. The scab pulsed distantly, a thin reminder of his exploit. 

"Alright, alright," Owen said. "I do believe its my turn. Bring it in, Petey. You look like shit."

Peter laughed loudly and fully. He felt the pricking of tears touch his eyes when Remi shouted, "Hey!" and smacked Owen's arm.

"You literally just cursed, why can't I?"

"Because!" was the only reply he received. 

"Aye, I may be short, but I'm still here." Luke interjected to capture Peter's attention. 

After everyone hugged everyone, Remi began her interrogation. "What happened, Peter? We woke up and you weren't home and then the _Avengers_ stormed the place and arrested Terri and John. We didn't know where you were. We didn't know what was happening. Captain America told us we were safe and that everything would be fine. They said that you were in their custody and that you were hurt. Then some agents came and took us to this room and they wouldn't tell us where you were or how badly you were injured. I was _this close_ to ripping out my hair!" She gestured, pinching her fingers together.

Peter obviously couldn't tell them the truth because _Spiderman, hello,_ but that didn't stop him from coming up with a lie. The group wasn't aware of too much, so a cover story wouldn't be too hard to invent.

"John and Terri staggered in sometime after y'all were asleep. I was gettin' a drink. I got hurt really bad and they kicked me out. Y'know that whole blind with pain thing? Yeah, well I made my way here."

"You don't look hurt," Remi noted suspiciously. 

"They have magical IVs here," Peter answered casually. 

The answer was accepted by the tight knit group. Peter felt the knot of anxiety in his chest slowly start to wither away. He explained to them that Tony had done an intense background check on a foster family with no current kids. Apparently, Bruce was an old friend of theirs and they were absolutely wonderful people. Tony had said he would do monthly check ins and that the family had said that Peter was allowed to visit anytime he wanted. 

Maybe everything would be fine.

* * *

The next day, Peter was in the living room watching a movie with Natasha, Clint, Bruce and Steve. 

Nat had thrown a bunch of blankets on Peter and made him hot chocolate. Clint kept making extremely cheesy jokes that made Peter laugh anyway. Bruce and he kept sharing what they noticed was scientifically or physically impossible/incorrect. Steve had made snacks which, lets be honest, were fucking heavenly. 

The elevator flew open and out stepped Tony Stark and Pepper Potts (Stark). Some weird Avengers mind connection seemed to kick in because with one look from Tony, the other superheros nodded and stood up. 

Natasha ruffled his hair before leaving with the rest of the team following behind.

"Your friends are safely at their new home," Tony announced. 

"They seemed to like Mrs. and Mrs. Avery," Pepper added.

Peter nodded absentmindedly. He thought that the group would like living with two women. Despite any abuse Terri might have inflicted, John was always worse.

"And," Tony announced, rocking nervously on his feet despite the look of confidence gracing his face. "That just leaves you."

"If you want to," Pepper smiled softly. "Tony and I were wondering if you'd like to... well if you'd like to stay with us."

Peter gaped at her, picking up on the hidden message. "You... you mean like..."

"Permanently. As in adoption." Tony supplied.

"I... yes...yes! Thank you!" The teenager exclaimed, racing forwards and hugging Pepper and Tony tightly. "Thank you..."

And if a shouted "HELL YEAH!" came from the vents, no one said anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the end of the line, huh? Well, I would like to sincerely thank all of you lovely people for commenting and leaving kudos. I greatly appreciate it and I love you all!!!


End file.
